Review: "I Love You, Man"

From start to finish, the film cleverly takes your standard rom-com structure -- guy meets girl, guy leaves awkward voicemail, guy steps out of comfort zone, guy and girl fall in love, guy loses girl, guy goes back to boring old life, guy and girl are reunited and profess their love -- but switches out "girl" with ... Jason Segel.

Even a quick look at the movie's poster makes it clear that the filmmakers are out to play with expectations. With the title I Love You, Man, the tagline of "Are you man enough to say it?" and the picture of two guys standing next to one another, this could easily be a poster for a gay romantic comedy. Which is of course the point.

And the fact that the movie will no doubt be a hit makes it clear both that men are absolutely a target audience for romantic comedies (if the romance is between two straight guys) and that buddy comedies have moved into uncharted territory.

In the end, this movie is not about finding a best man for your wedding; it's about learning how to love another guy as a friend. And thanks to its keen focus on this end, the movie manages to offer a few moments of legitimate clarity amidst the poop jokes and over-the-top sexual frankness.

Aside from the well-considered script and even tone, much of the credit for the movie's puppy-eyed success goes to Rudd, who plays Peter with such sincere sweets that it's impossible not to root for him to find love - er, friendship with the right guy.

The funniest bits of the film involve Rudd making stupid or nonsensical comments to Segel out of sheer nervousness, and his tendency to come up with bad nicknames for his new friend is brilliant. Going into the screening, I noted that it feels like every time I turn around there's a new Paul Rudd movie, but this is the actor at his most charming, and finally in the driver's seat as romantic leading man.

Being that this is a movie about men loving men, the filmmakers were wise to add in a few gay characters to show that men love other men for all kinds of reasons. On the one hand there's Robbie, a gay guy who has no stereotypically gay qualities and who has turned to dating straight men because it's more of a challenge (leading to a rather hilarious moment at a family dinner when he brings a married straight man as a date).

Robbie's best friend is their father (the always-welcome J.K. Simmons), who celebrates the fact that his son is gay and whom Robbie has dubbed an "honorary homo". A trainer at a fancy gym, Robbie has no trouble meeting guys and finds his older brother's problems making male friends more amusing than anything else. He also serves the function of the "boorish best friend" in the standard rom-com setup. Again, taking a step back, this is a gay character filling the role usually carried by Vince Vaughn.

While Robbie is a bit of a cad, you can't say that he's played as a stereotype. And as we learn in a sweet moment near the end of the movie, there's more to the guy than meets the eye. Samberg's take on his first gay role may fit within a very straight comfort zone, but it's also utterly unapologetic, and the movie makes zero issue of him or any of the other gay characters.